Jon Beason shares his thoughts

Found a post on CSR that linked a great blog written by Panthers MLB Jon Beason. Because it is so long, I’m not going to paste the entire thing – but I will post a portion of it here because there were a few parts that really stood out to me.

Beason, on Jake Delhomme:

In terms of Jake Delhomme, he’s one of those teammates that you always want to do well, a guy you definitely want on your football team. He has those intangibles that make professional athletes who they are, what makes them special. Jake is a warrior, a competitor. One thing I always appreciated about Jake was that he was honest and genuinely wanted to win. Every snap, every day in practice, whether he was rehabbing an injury or preparing to win on Sundays, he always had the same philosophy. Jake always gave it everything he had, he played with guts and played with his heart on his sleeve. The QB position is rare in terms of the evaluation process. There are quarterbacks who can throw, quarterbacks who are great athletes and can run, quarterbacks who are smart and have all the intangibles, but the No. 1 factor in choosing a quarterback is the IT factor, and every quarterback doesn’t have it. Simply put, they know how to win. In any sport, that in itself is more important than gold, and Jake has it. It’s sad to see him go, but I know he’s going to land on his feet like he always has. He’s overcome bigger obstacles before.

Beason, on his approach to next season:

So as a veteran leader of this team heading into the 2010 season, what do I do? One, I trust in the organization and the coaching staff that they are making the best decisions for the team, and two, come to work with my hard hat on, ready to work to be better than ever before.

Beason, on what he expects for 2010:

To me, I expect every guy on this team and everybody affiliated with the organization to go out and try to be exceptional. The last two years have been glaring to me in terms of the teams that played in and won the Super Bowl. It’s very fresh in my mind that the team we should have beaten twice this year won the Super Bowl, and I’m asking myself, why them and not us? The answer is simple: as a whole, as a group collectively, the Saints decided to go out and win the Super Bowl and they did that. The year before it was the Arizona Cardinals, they went 8-8 but made it to the Super Bowl, and again, I’m asking myself, why them and not us? Really, the focal point for me is to do what we have to do to get it done. We’re good enough. We’ve got to have that mentality moving forward, going into the preseason and then into every regular-season game.

After reading his blog, I can’t help but be excited for what the 2010 season will bring. I think this Panthers team has the opportunity and the ability to do something special, and I can’t wait to say that I was able to witness it as it was happening.

Go out and try to be exceptional – sounds like pretty good advice to me.